Means for observing and signaling between ships in fog.



J. B. SPEED. MEANS FOR OBSERVING ANDSIGNALING BETWEEN SHIPS IN FOG. APPLICATION mzo SEPT. 4, 1914.

1,184,783. Patented 3730,1916.

W/fnesse I. z I /nven/or: -@-$771 James 5. Speed by A lowing is a full,'clear,

To all whom it may concern:

"UNITED STATES PATENT MEANS FOB'OBSEBVING .AND SIGNALING BETWEEN SHIPS IN Be it known that I, JAMEs Bucxi iia' SPEED, a citizen of the United States, res1ding at West New Brighton, in the county ofRichmondand State of'New York, have: and useful Improve- -ments in Means for Observing-and Signal- Fog, of which the folinvented certain new ing Between Ships in concise, and exact de scription. I v

This invention relates to observing and signaling between ships-in fog,"and its obj' ject is to provide a new and improved means several feet abovethe illuminat the.

donot'penetrate it to; any considerable exfor this purpose, by the employment of which collisionsbetweenvesselscan effectively prevented;

water is much m0retransparent than fog It has also beenjiound that, an attempt in -.fog to 'use lights' such as searchlights lo- .cated on the upper'works of a'ship is futile, I owing to the fact that v such 'fog itenta shutter spectacles The present invention is appreciation of the two phenomena above, mentioned, and it utilizes "the the difficulties presentedeby-thesecond.

'wherein: .n p Figurefl represents two nahng equipment of a the a ship; andlthe operated'in' 'chrom'sm' with the projection of light, which an observer located near. the water the ship to observe the'efiect of; l" ht from other ships similarly-equipped,"only while I no light is being projected from upon which he is located. I

' The invention may be carried out with 1' many forms-of apparatus, one of which is ill'ustratedjin the accompanying drawing,

with signaling andobservisents more in detail'the observing and sig- M} Specification of Letters Patent,

water. This phenome-- non is often .so pronounced that there is a thin stratumof moderatelyclear air incon- .tact with the water.- I

v lights-merely and reflect from it and based upon an firstandavoids biased to the positionshown in an In general -myi invention contemplates intermittent projection of vlight outwardly .from points near the waterline ofuse. of ajdevice suchas- "normalhposition, t

permits line of h s p vessels equipped"- g' devices in ac-- cordance with this invention; Fig. '2 reprevessel; and Fig. 3

represents the electrical the observing and si Referring to the two ferry-boats5 and invention. Port-holes 7 ahng apparatus. awing, Fig; 1 shows may comprise holes are controlled by suitable periodically may - 1 operated shutters. The last'menti'oned ar- It has been observed that fog: close to the I rangement is one shown in detail and is mounted an incandescent? lamp 11. "Lothe casing are suitable lensessuch: as 12which properly control the rays ofijhght from the lamps and cause their 1ectionofithe lamps rays, v In the particunis nis controlled by; a

tached to the shutter.,: The armature .15 is manner, as by a ring 16,- and w 'en' in its the magnet 14 is-energized,iit attracts thisarmature 15 and the shutter c l0ses",'*avvill;be

4 obvious from the dra Inorder that the observer, 'who as ex: plained above should-be locatedsel as near the water line as possible, may not be (dazzled by the reflection from the fogdiietothe light from his .own '--v'essel,

Patented May 30, 1916;; Application flledseptem'ber 4, 1914. Serial No. 860,182. v

connections between '6 equipped with the.

mcandescent lamps which are perilar arrangement shown, this shutter me'ch'af i' magnet '14 which w en; energized-attracts anarniature '15 at-.

suitable e shutter is open. {When 1011 the ves-- shutter spectacles 19 are provided. flAs,

shown in Fig. 3 these spectacles may take the general form of field g1 provided with a-shutter operated in synchr0nisln with the port hole shutters. As

at eac a disk adapted to cover the 22 ofthe Spectacles.- Th s 1 shown in Fig. f 3, the. spectacle-shutter may consist of a lever 21 bend of which 'is;

opening or glass an electromagnet 24 and normally held away from said magnet by a spring 25. The cir cuit for the control of the spectacle and porthole shutters is indicated in Fig. 3, it being understood that a plurality of either of these devices can be controlled from the same circuit. In Fig. 3, a battery .27 is indicated as supplying current to the circuits of the shutter magnets 14 and 24, under the control of a brush 28 which moves over the surface of a commutator having sections 29 and 30. As shown, the brush 28 is connected to one pole of the battery, the commutator section 29 is connected to one terminal of the magnet 24, and the other commutator section 30 is connected to one terminal of the other shutter magnet 14; the other terminals of the shutter magnets 24 and 14 being connected to the other pole of the battery;

The length of the commutator segment 30 is such that the interval'of time during which the port-hole shutters 13 are allowed to remain open, is short as compared with the period during which said shutters are closed and the length of the segment-29 and its arrangement with reference to the segment 30 are such that the closing of the spectacleshutter '22 takes place just before the opening of the port-hole shutter 13, and such that the opening of the former does not occur until a little after theclosing' of the latter. There is, therefore, no opportunity for anobserver to be dazzled by the signal lights from his own vessel. A switch 31 may be interposed in the battery circuit for the purpose of starting and stoppin system; and the brus may be driven over the commutator by any suitable mechanism not shown.

With the arrangement of apparatus described, it is evident that an observer stationed near the water line of a vessel can detect on the surface of the water, li ht projected from another vessel equippe dangerous proximity.

the operation of the as described, provided the two. vessels are in In other words, by my invention, the diameter of the circle within which the proper lookout can be kept during a fog is greatly increased over what is possible by the methods of observation and signaling heretofore employed.

What is claimed is: I

1. Means for signaling and observing between ships in fog comprising means carrie by each ship for projecting light outwardly from the ship near the surface of the water; means for intermittently cutting off projection of said light; and means, operating in synchronism with said last mentioned means, for preventing an observer located on a ship near the surface of the water from observing the effect of light fromother ships except during the intervals when the projection of light from his ship is cut ofi.

2. Means for signaling and observing between ships in f0 comprising sources 0 signal light locate oneach ship near the water line and arranged to project light outwardl shutters for periodically obscuring said light; and shutter spectacles, operated in synchronisnf with said light shutters, for

preventing observation of the surface of thewater except during the intervals when said lightshutters are closed.

3. Means for signaling and observing between ships in fog comprising sources of signal light located on each ship near the water line and arranged to project light outwardly, electromagnetically operated shutters cooperatin therewith, electromagnetically operated s utter spectacles for use in observing the effect of light from other ships, and a switching device for operating said shutters oppositely and synchronouslyQ In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 1st day of September A. D.

JAMES BUCKNER SPEED. Witnesses:

Rosanna M. SUNTER, E. EDLER. 

